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Squando – Based on Collaboration and Joint Development by Schaeffler and apsolut
Company
Schaeffler
Branch
Automotive and mechanical engineering supplier
Products
Clutch systems, transmission parts, camshaft phasers, bearings and linear technology components
Number of employees
83,000
Turnover
15.8 billion euros
Headquarters
Herzogenaurach, Germany
Websitewww.schaeffler.com
Together with the Schaeffler Group, apsolut developed a new tool for the qualification and onboarding of direct material suppliers as well as for material group management.
Best-of-Breed – Who wouldn’t want to write that as a bold headline over their target IT architecture? But how do you get to the solution that reflects your very individual needs?
Schaeffler has been driving forward groundbreaking inventions and developments in the field of motion technology for over 75 years. The technology company manufactures high-precision components and systems for drive train and chassis applications as well as rolling and plain bearing solutions for a large number of industrial applications. The Schaeffler Group has identified collaboration and joint development as the key to its desired architecture. As a first outcome, Schaeffler teamed up with SAP procurement specialist apsolut. In a collaborative development approach, the two partners have developed a new supplier management tool and named it Squando – an acronym for “Supplier qualification and onboarding”.
In fact, the term framework best describes Squando. This framework is adapted and scaled to the individual business needs of an organisation. At Schaeffler, Squando is used to manage all production material suppliers worldwide.
Squando brings many benefits to Schaeffler which would not have been realised by any other existing solution in the market:
- New suppliers are guided through a clear, comprehensible onboarding process.
- Squando fulfils the individual requirements of all business divisions, containing all divisional documents and certificates.
- The fulfilment status of the divisional requirements is visualised and thus supports the approval process.
- The fully digitalised supplier creation process is significantly more transparent than previous solutions.
- Suppliers are actively involved into the creation and qualification process.
- Squando is based on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) and thus is integrated with Schaeffler’s SAP system landscape.
- It has a user-friendly interface, based on SAP UI.
- It is capable to act according to the VDA and IATF standards common in the automotive industry.
„We were looking for a specific solution that did not exist yet. We didn’t want to compromise. So we looked for the right partner to model a flexible tool so that we could configure the specific processes ourselves. We used our expertise and creativity to make Squando our global supplier management tool.“
explains Ketylin Morello, Purchasing Strategy and Market Intelligence and Functional Product Owner for Squando at Schaeffler.
Squando is a tool for rapid supplier qualification at the level of detail required.
Squando is based on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and can be fully integrated into SAP ERP landscapes (S/4HANA or ECC).
Implemented tools
Squando
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Zinah Matar, Digital Business Development Manager, Juffali Commercial Vehicles
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„Despite all the digitalisation and automation, we still work in a people business. During this project, we have grown into such a resilient, unified team that we’ve managed to meet all of our deadlines up to this point, even though some of them were quite ambitious. Ultimately, that also motivates everyone involved to do their part in driving the project forward!“
Simon Bohn, Global Solution Architect Procure to Pay, STIHL
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Felipe Antunes Miranda, Global IT Category Manager and Project Manager, Archroma
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Chandrashekhar Saldur, AGM - Global Procurement & Projects, ETG Group
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‘We’re on the right track to being able to take full advantage of the potential that this transformation offers, as apsolut not only gives us the expertise that we need, but also has an incredibly agile and committed approach. apsolut no longer feels like an external partner to me, but more like an internal department, with whom I hope we can continue to work well into the future.’
Dr. Bei Mortensen, IT Business Service Owner – SCM & Manufacturing, GEA Group
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"The mix of virtual design discussions, system demonstrations and break-out sessions, supported by best-in-class tools that allowed us to annotate and track tasks and decisions during screen sharing, enabled us to work closely with apsolut even though distances of up to 12,000 kilometres had to be bridged. We were very pleased that both our projects could be successfully implemented with the help of apsolut."
Alina Aftene, Procurement Solutions Specialist, Delivery Hero
„We were able to roll out Ariba very quickly, because we established a pragmatic and open culture of cooperation with the apsolut team from the very beginning, and we were prepared to systematically align ourselves with the standard“,
Sarah Eve Wiedemann-Geiß, who oversees purchasing and supplier management at Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall
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"From the beginning of the project, we have made a remarkable change together with apsolut. The Döhler employees find their way through the easy user interface without any prior knowledge of SAP. As a result, our purchasing department is no longer an operational procurement office, but a team of in-house consultants."
Shibu Palakalodil, Projektleiter SAP Ariba-Implementierung
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Göktürk Simsekol, Digital Transformation Director, Flint Group
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“After the first Ariba roll-outs, we continued to work with apsolut to jointly develop our Ariba Suite. We usually work together at eye level, and I appreciate apsolut’s open and honest advice. I always have the feeling that the best solution for the customer is their guiding principle. This level of honesty is what led us to working together for so long.”
Małgorzata Pośpiech, SCM Process Manager, JOYNEXT
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Stefan Ehrhardt, Head of SAP Governance Purchasing, MAHLE
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Martin Traxl, Head of Strategy & Digitalization, OMV
"apsolut has been supporting us in the ope-ration of our SRM system for 10 years. It does not matter whether we report a problem in the production system or want to discuss change requests. We are contacted by apsolut in a timely manner to resolve our concerns or discuss our requirements in detail. apsolut always provides the important piece of securi-ty in the background - if anything goes wrong, they always help quickly and straightforwardly."
Torsten Enseroth, SAP S/4HANA Solution Architect, Friedhelm Loh Group
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‘With its flexible and transparent procedure, apsolut perfectly complemented our own limited personnel resources. Together, we were able to address topics like multi-line items or dependencies with other tools. It’s unbelievable how much knowledge and expertise we were able to gain,’
Regina Krüger-Wendel, Chief Procurement Officer, Atruvia
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„apsolut not only guided us through the project with utmost professionalism and a proactive approach – decisive was the fact that apsolut enabled us to operate the new tool independently and to control the next steps ourselves. In addition, thanks to apsolut, we have been able to establish the right network, including with the right contacts at SAP Austria. The project has been an overwhelming success and we have managed to foster an almost friend-to-friend relationship with the apsolut team."
Gerald Goldgruber, Strategic Manager for Process Management and SAP, Frutura
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Tanja Sefrin, Project Manager, KUKA
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Paul Trautmann, Manager Procurement Processes & Projects, Röhm GmbH
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Michael Spiess, Chief Procurement Officer, Sanitas Krankenversicherung
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Linna Krasnikov, SCC System Administrator, Kärcher
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„We were looking for a specific solution that did not exist yet. We didn’t want to compromise. So we looked for the right partner to model a flexible tool so that we could configure the specific processes ourselves. We used our expertise and creativity to make Squando our global supplier management tool.“
Ketylin Morello, Purchasing Strategy and Market Intelligence & Functional Product Owner for Squando, Schaeffler
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"apsolut pro-actively asked us questions from the outset, discussed our aims and created a new roadmap. This approach was the complete opposite of the original project and it worked fantastically,"
Patrick Tydex, Project Manager, Zentis
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Markus Ortlieb, Director Global Procurement, ProMinent GmbH
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Yvonne Kippschull, SAP-Prozess- & Application Consultant, wolfcraft
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Thomas Henzler, Chief Information Officer, PILLER Blowers & Compressors
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Annette Römer, Project Manager, McKesson Europe AG
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Hubert Buchsteiner, Group Vice President Purchasing, ZKW Group
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"Although personal contact was very limited due to Corona, a strong team formed during the intensive project phase. The decision-making paths at BITZER and apsolut were always short so that issues could be dealt with promptly and the planned go-live date achieved. The home office was not an obstacle, but also gave us the necessary flexibility for a project of this size.
All team members have done a great job, I have rarely worked so well with a consulting firm!"
Steffen Bauer, Project Manager, BITZER
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"Being able to design our purchasing processes flexibly, digitally and above all efficiently offers great added value. We will therefore continue to expand our system in the direction of SAP Ariba."
Armin Kaczmarek, Senior Vice President Corporate Purchasing, Vorwerk
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“For the new Ariba system, wewere able to onboard more than 1,400 users in three national subsidiaries with only little training effort. With regard to our Procurement processes, we have gained significant transparency and control.“
Jane Wanger, Global Procurement Systems & Support bei KSB
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"Of course, we are immensely proud of how we implemented this complex transformation together. The always competent and more than punctual execution moved us to initiate a parallel project for partial process innovation in the ongoing project. Actually a no-go, but with apsolut no problem! With this positive experience, it was easy for us to initiate another project, which is currently being implemented. One thing remains to be said: Without the team around Bodo Hempelmann, this journey would definitely have been more difficult!”
Manuel Steffen, Project Officer Source-to-Pay, Evonik Industries
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